Chicken Manure to Energy Plant in Connecticut

Poultry manure contains a high energy content. A chicken farm in Bozrah, Connecticut, is proposing to build a 30 MW gasification bioenergy plant, using a mix of chicken manure and clean wood.

Plans for a 30-megawatt biomass power plant in town moved closer to reality last week when Clearview Renewable Energy officials chose KofKoff Egg Farm as its location.

If approved, Clearview, a New Hampshire and New York power company’s project, will help solve Kofkoff’s biggest problem — disposing of chicken manure. The company will use manure from the egg farm at 17 Schwartz Road to produce power.

State Agriculture Commissioner F. Philip Prelli said the project will produce clean energy and provide a use for the chicken manure. The residue from the manure and wood would be sold as organic fertilizer and the remaining steam would be used to warm the farm’s eggs, he said.

Kofkoff, which has four other locations — in Franklin, Lebanon, Hebron and Colchester — is the state’s top egg farm, producing more than 12 million eggs per week.

Plans for the project at Kofkoff have been in the works since 2004. The state Department of Public Utility Control’s decision in January gave the green light for Clearview to move its plans forward.

Once up and operating, Clearview’s project, along with six other renewable energy projects DPUC approved, could inject nearly 110 megawatts into the state’s fossil-fuel energy grid, helping to light more than 110 homes. It will cost ratepayers approximately $101 million over 20 years.
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This project represents just one farm which produces large amounts of animal waste that could be processed to energy. As farms and ranches across North America better learn how to utilise waste for energy and profit, they will become something of an example for other industries.